[SALTA, ARGENTINA] — A review of the three best boutique hotels in Salta province of Argentina. Where to stay in Salta. House of Jasmines. Estancia Colomé and the James Turrell Museum Molinos. Patios de Cafayate.

To be clear, there is the city of Salta and the entire Salta province, so when researching your trip, it’s good to differentiate between the two when you plot out where to stay.  

For my trip, my real goal was to explore the entire untrammeled Wild West Salta province, so I spent very little time in the city of Salta. They call it “Salta the beautiful” but I was just in and out on a day trip, so didn’t get a chance to discover the beautiful part of the city.  I planned out my trip so I’d break up the trip in three completely different places, a cool hotel at the end of each day.

Here’s a link to another big post I made about exploring Salta province on a road trip to get bearings on where these hotels are.  Here follows is a summary of my stays at each of these places, some just for a night, but several nights at the extremely remote Estancia Colomé — which was my real destination for this trip, especially for its highly coveted James Turrell Museum.

Here are my favorite three best boutique hotels in Salta

I put a bunch of links to other hotel guides for the region at the end of the post. Let me know if you find some you like.

House of Jasmines, Outside Salta City — Like Staying on a Private Estancia

A few miles outside of Salta city is a perfect hotel and spa in the countryside. House of Jasmines. A luxurious estancia-turned-hotel (and the actor Robert Duvall’s former working ranch). It’s the perfect base to explore Salta province, easy to connect to the highways into the mountains, yet being away in a quiet retreat from the bustling Salta city.

It’s just a few kilometers on the other side of the airport, so it’s a great place to crash after a long flight.  Set amidst acres of green, green farmland, trees and remarkable views of the distant white capped mountains. And super quiet. House of Jasmines website. 

I really wish I’d booked more nights here, I was just in and out twice, coming and going to the altiplano.  Highly recommend several days here, for adventures. I can’t wait to go back.

House of Jasmines is made up of a main house and several guest houses, each with their own terraces with views of the open fields, the views to the mountains, the sun and the sound of the outside.

There’s an excellent restaurant in the main house.  One night I was there they had a special asado and fiesta and I had one of the best bottles of wines I’ve ever had. And it’s a Relais & Chateaux property, so you know it’s good and the food, amazing. You really don’t want to leave. Here’s a great overview on Scott Dunn’s website.  

As I mentioned, this used to be the actor Robert Duvall’s private estancia for years, but for some time has be run by a French hotelier family.  The French decor touches really show.  I visited here in 2011 and looks like they have really upped the decor even better based on recent photos, so make sure you check out the links and their website.

Here is the Trip Advisor review for House of Jasmines. And the Relais & Chateaux booking site. A review in Travel & Leisure. And Conde Nast Traveler.

Estancia Colomé — Skygaze and Stargaze Amidst High Altitude Vineyards in the Middle of Nowhere

Estancia Colomé is a place I had read a bunch things about, mostly its magical high-altitude vineyard and its remote, very VERY remote location. But what really attracted me to make the long journey to Salta was that it also is home to the only museum dedicated to one of my favorite artists, James Turrell.

The fact that he chose this remote place for his remote works makes both all the more special.  He works with light and the way we perceive it. Read more about him, the museum and the estancia here.

Colomé is owned by the Hess Collection and is one of the oldest and highest vineyards in South America, if not the world. The Estancia hotel has only a handful of rooms and when I went there in March ’11 it was a small boutique hotel.

When I say remote, I’m talking about a two hour flight from Buenos Aires, a dramatic six hour (oft-times dangerous) 4 wheel drive crossing of multiple ecosystems (rain forests, mountains, desserts, high desserts, low desserts, etc.) and driving through nearly a dozen or so roaring streams (depending on the rain).  

Getting to Estancia Colomé is one of the most coolest drives I’ve ever done, white knuckles and all, through some of the most dramatic scenery I’ve ever seen.  But the journey to this remote place that much more special.  

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Getting to Estancia Colomé is Half the Fun. Kinda.

After a harrowing five hour drive — fording streams and being nearly swept off a steep cliff crossing a river in my under-equipped rental car — when I finally got to the dusty town of Molinos, I was exhausted.

When I followed the “Colomè >>>” signs on the muddy, rutted road outside of town, they dead-ended at a wide muddy river. I could see the road tracks popping back up the banks on the opposite side of the river. I thought “Whaaaat???”  I got out and turned off the car, wondering what to do next.

After waiting for 20 minutes sitting on the hood of my car wondering what to do. Two very young local boys crossed the shallow but fast moving river on a tractor, pulling up next to the riverbank across the road from me. Smiling.

“Estancia Colomé??”  “Sí!” They nodded, smiling, pointing across the river. I pointed to my little fake SUV. “Con esto?” “Sí!” Giggling, revving up the tractor, then holding up a scraggly rope, holding up fingers scraping each other, as if “We’ll help get you across. For a price.”

I looked back at my sad little car and thought NO. As in NOOO WAAAAY! I’d had a hard enough time just making it through the muck on the road.

I tried calling the hotel, but the signal wouldn’t work. But I was able to text my travel agent in the US and sent a pic of the wide river. “Let me see what I can do.” She texted back: “They’re sending a truck, any minute.” I parked my car on the side of the road and pulled out my sad luggage on the side of the river.

And then the cavalry arrived.

For a while there after COVID, they closed down the Estancia Colomé hotel, just open for destination wine groups. But since then it seems like they have fully opened back up to everybody.

I imagine today, they have better logistics to get across the river. This was crazy to get to experience… which made it all the better once I got there.

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The High Altiplano Views of Estancia Colomé

Relieved after hahaha-ing across the soupy river, we finally pulled up to this remote hotel. This was the view from my room, 9,000 feet above sea level, in the middle of nowhere. Worth it.

The Amazing James Turrell Museum at Estancia Colomé

They don’t allow photos on the inside of this world class museum in the middle of nowhere, but here are some examples of the multiple skygazing installations inside the museum, these photos below are from the official James Turrell archive.

So many things inside I wish I could show you. But alas, you’ll just have to go there. Here’s a great article from the new Further magazine website on the Turrell Museum at Estancia Colomé with great pictures.

Bodega Colomé–The Oldest Vineyard in Argentina

The valley of the estancia is ringed on all sides with chiseled mountains. You can watch whole weather systems role across the valley.

Here’s their website.  Here’s a great story from the WSJ.com on road tripping through Argentina’s most extreme wine country. And another from Wall Street Journal on the advancing taste of Malbec.  And a great article from the NYTimes on Colomé. And an older New York Times article on Salta, which I used on my trip. Here’s a review of the gallery and estancia Colomé from The Independent.  And some mentions on the hotel and Turrell museum from AFAR magazine.

Patios de Cafayate — Stay in the Middle of a Vineyard Outside Cafayate

This is really a pretty place. The Patios de Cafayate — almost the most perfect Spanish style villa and grounds you can imagine.  The reviews are sometimes mixed, but  I loved it.  Maybe while pretty, it might be lacking a soul with some of the people working there. I think it used to be part of the Luxury Collection, but after I first posted this, I got a cryptic message from the LC when booking saying that they were no longer associated with the property. Not sure of its current status, but would still recommend.

There is a famous roadhouse that specializes in the treasured Salteño music of the region. I was so exhausted, I didn’t have the energy to venture out, but the bonus was you could sit outside your room and hear the lamented crooning waft over the trees from the nearby joint.

I wish I stayed here a few more days to explore Cafayete. And the wonderful Salteño music bars.

Cafayate is a gorgeous wine area, btw. Great place to base your explorations and very easy to get to if you drive straight down from Salta and skip the Ruta 40 loop…maybe 2-3 hours.

Nice big rooms and perfect reading porches all around. Excellent courtyard and gorgeous main room.  I had a darn good meal in the restaurant, with a fine bottle of their house Don David Malbec.  Nice pool, too, to cool off after the exhausting drive. The travel agent and others recommended the Vinas de Cafayate as a much better place, but I never got a chance to stay there.

Here is Patios de Cafayate’s website.  And their high marks on Trip Advisor.  Here’s their review on the Conde Nast Traveler website. And a review on The Telegraph’s excellent travel review page. And good mentions on their restaurant from Fodor’s. And a very detailed review on the most excellent Scott Dunn website.

— Last visited March 2011; Post Updated February 2024 —

More Information on Where to Stay in Salta

Here’s a great overview article of 36 Hours in Salta form The NY Times and a great article on Salta province from Forbes.  Here’s a review of both House of Jasmines and Patios de Cafayate, as well as other great places to stay in Salta, in The Telegraph.  Here is The Telegraph’s list of best boutique hotels in Salta province.  And great survey of all the curated hotels in Salta province from the very dependable I-escape.com.

Here’s where each of these cities are located across Salta province:

And here’s a link to an interactive map I created for this Salta Roadtrip, where you can zoom in to locations, roads, websites, addresses, etc.

Here are other posts I’ve made of exploring the incredible scenery of Salta province. Here’s one on the Salinas Grandes, one of the world’s largest salt flats. Amazing. And another post about exploring the colorful mountains of Jujuy province, an easy day trip from Salta city.